Sir Robert Geffery’s Voluntary Aided Church of England Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy exceptional enrichment and extra-curricular experiences at the school.

These make a significant contribution to their personal development. There are no barriers to any pupil taking part in these opportunities. Everyone is welcome and there is something to interest everyone.

The eight school values are central to pupils' daily life. For example, trust, friendship and service underpin pupils' character development. As a result, pupils behave well.

They are courteous and respectful towards adults and each other. Pupils and parents value the culture of warm, trusting relationships, which begin right from the start of school in Reception.

Th...e school is at the heart of the village community.

The school farm provides a unique opportunity to learn and apply knowledge about agriculture and the natural environment. This helps pupils to understand and appreciate their locality. Pupils contribute to the village through serving lunches and participating in celebrations in the church.

In addition, they participate in initiatives beyond the school such as the National Younger Leadership Groups. This prepares them well for life in modern Britain.

Parents are overwhelmingly supportive of the school.

They recognise the unique features that pupils benefit from. Pupils' attendance is high because they enjoy coming to school to learn. They are very positive ambassadors for it.

What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

This is a school community whose vision for 'a school for enthusiasts' develops a love of learning in pupils. Pupils learn the relevance of different subjects and become, for example, confident mathematicians, artists and scientists.

Good foundations for learning build from Reception.

Starting school is carefully designed to give children a positive beginning. They build confidence and curiosity, which prepares them well for key stage 1.

The school has identified the knowledge it wants pupils to learn in the curriculum.

In some subjects this is not as precise as it could be. It is not always clear how pupils make progress through the curriculum building on what they already know. This is particularly the case at key stage 2.

In these subjects, pupils are not sufficiently challenged and do not have enough opportunities to deepen their knowledge.

Where the knowledge is identified more precisely, pupils move through the curriculum well. They securely learn key knowledge.

They then deepen this through applying it to new situations. In mathematics, pupils use their key knowledge in reasoning and problem-solving activities. For pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities, the clarity of the mathematics curriculum means they experience learning that is well matched to their individual starting points.

Teachers use assessment well to identify any gaps in knowledge or misconceptions. They successfully adapt teaching to address these. The school uses regular practice and recall of what has been learned to make knowledge secure.

Pupils understand how this also helps them to understand new concepts.

The school has a successful phonics programme. Pupils enjoy their phonics lessons and develop accuracy in segmenting words and blending sounds.

This enables them to become fluent readers who progress to more difficult books. However, for those pupils who need additional help, the books they read do not all closely match the sounds they know. This hinders their ability to read with fluency and understanding.

Reading for pleasure is promoted throughout the school. The reading corner in the Reception classroom is an inviting space to enjoy familiar books. The various pupil committees and councils give pupils a voice.

They feel their ideas and opinions matter to staff and governors. Older pupils have successfully presented their request for new books to governors. As a result, the libraries are well stocked with books that pupils are excited to read.

Governors understand their work and carry out their roles with diligence. They have the information that enables them to challenge and support the school's work. They work closely with staff to understand the impact the curriculum has on pupils' learning.

They engage purposefully with parents, pupils and the community. They welcome external scrutiny and partnership working to improve pupils' education.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In a few subjects, the school has not identified the precise knowledge pupils need to learn as they progress through the curriculum. This means that in these subjects pupils do not always deepen their knowledge and build on what they know. The school must identify the specific small steps of knowledge across the curriculum so that pupils know more, remember more and can do more over time.

• A minority of younger pupils who are at the early stages of reading struggle to read fluently. The books they are reading are not always well matched to their phonic knowledge. The school needs to ensure that these pupils read books that match the sounds they know, so that they develop reading fluency and confidence.

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